An annual disclosure of beliefs
It’s time again for an annual disclosure.
This is a tradition former Sentinel columnist Charley Reese started decades ago. Charley always said that if newspaper columnists are going to tell you what they think all year long, they should first tell you where they stand and what they believe.
I am a married father of two with an unapologetic fondness for bourbon and Funyuns.
I start most days around 4:30 a.m., consuming all the state and local news I can find. When my wife stumbles downstairs about an hour later, I’m usually already ticked off about something.
Admittedly, I can be a lot to handle before sunrise.
My wife and I have two sources of income — my salary from the Sentinel, which is owned by Tribune Publishing, and hers, which comes from working as a pharmacist at the Orlando VA. The two colleges our kids attend sap a good deal of that income.
I don’t accept outside payments from any other organization or fees for speaking engagements, mainly because most of the groups I work with are nonprofits, but also because I’m not worth paying to hear.
We own two houses — the one we live in around Audubon Park and our starter house in Seminole County, where we lived for 13 years back in the heydays when Flea World was still around.
I’m an unaffiliated voter. I believe both parties have their faults and that tribalism is one of the biggest problems plaguing this country these days. If you have to check to see what your party leaders or titular
heads think before deciding where you stand on an issue, you’re not really thinking at all.
That said, I lean left of center ideologically. I believe that everyone who lives in a country as prosperous as ours should have access healthcare, that discrimination is always wrong, that corporations should pay their fair share in taxes and that public education is a vital part of any advanced society.
I think that anybody who works a full-time job should be able to make ends meet.
I also believe in balanced budgets — and that most politicians who claim to feel the same way are full of it.
I like Christmas and vacations and laughing.
I loathe unrepentant ignorance and chain emails.
I tend to spill whatever I’m eating on my shirt.
Like Reese, I am a near-absolutist on free speech. Let Nazis and white supremacists voice their opinions in the public square. The best way to combat ugly ideas is to refute them, not silence them. Suppression just gives bad ideas more attention and makes martyrs of those who espouse them.
That said, I think many people don’t understand what free speech really means. It’s about preventing government from censoring your opinions. Not your boss. And not Twitter.
I get annoyed by cars without mufflers, politicians without ethics and sports boosters who tell the community it to show up to support a team. (Not unless that team is giving away free tickets.)
I am inspired by social workers, preschool teachers, volunteer coaches and special-needs advocates.
I’m a big believer in the power of art — to entertain, educate and open minds. Also in youth sports — to teach teamwork, discipline and goal-setting.
I enjoy hearing dissenting opinions. When researching a column, I seek out arguments that refute my thesis. I’d rather hear the best counter to my premise before I publish a piece. Sometimes I change my mind.
I believe the world is full of nuance; that someone can be a great parent or spouse and still be a God-awful public official who has no business in office. And I’ve learned that not every debate we cover has a good guy. Or a bad one.
I treasure the trust I have with readers. One of my greatest honors is being asked for suggestions for charitable contributions. I take that seriously and am humbled by how many times people ask — whether it’s for $50 or $50,000. (And it has indeed been $50,000.)
I am grateful to work for editors and a publisher who never tell me what to write. If that ever changes or we are taken over by ownership that isn’t committed to local journalism — a scenario with increasing possibility as profiteers realize there are revenue streams to siphon at local papers — I will probably leave.
But for now, I’m honored to work alongside a passionate staff of journalists who work tirelessly to tell the stories about this community that wouldn’t otherwise be told. Let the rest of the world obsess over national politics. The journalists of the Orlando Sentinel are here — after most of our colleagues have left — to cover our community.
I will never apologize for asking people to pay for journalism. There’s a price for watchdogs and storytellers — and an even greater price to pay if we don’t have them.
I believe in compassion and equality.
I’m a Presbyterian and a Tar Heel.
I am incredibly grateful to have this job — and that you are reading.
Happy New Year.